Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions (HONEST) Act

Summary

Creates new ethics rules for high-level officials and expands public access and penalties for missed financial disclosures. It adds a divestment regime for the President, Vice President, Members of Congress and their spouses/dependent children; imposes a mandatory $500 fine for each missed or late transaction report under the STOCK Act (effective March 31, 2027); and requires searchable, downloadable online disclosure data with an API for certain financial and transaction reports (effective 18 months after enactment). Supervising ethics offices must update their rules within one year to reflect the fine provision.

• Creates a new divestment regime for the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and their spouses and dependent children.
• Establishes a mandatory $500 fine for each failure to file required STOCK Act transaction reports, effective March 31, 2027.
• Requires fines to be deposited into miscellaneous receipts of the U.S. Treasury.
• Mandates searchable, sortable, downloadable public disclosure of covered filings with API access, effective 18 months after enactment.
• Supervising ethics offices, including the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts where applicable, must update rules and guidance within one year to conform with the new fine provision.
• Makes technical and conforming amendments across title 5, the Lobbying Disclosure Act, and the Securities Exchange Act to reflect the new chapter and definitions.
• Includes a severability clause preserving the rest of the Act if any provision is found unconstitutional.
• Does not specify appropriation amounts or detailed divestment text in the provided summary; those details will determine operational impact.